Acrylic Painting Techniques for Beginners

Painting can be a very therapeutic hobby and you get to create beautiful art pieces along the way. Dragging the brush across the canvas is relaxing on its way and blending the colors to create an image is a powerful experience. If you find this craft to be interesting but you don’t know how or where to start, you’ve come to the right place. You can choose which material to use, whether watercolor, acrylic oil paint or even oil pastels. One of the most common paint used is acrylic because it is water- based and easy to blend. As for this guide, the techniques that we’re going to discuss are for acrylic paint.

This list will give you the basic painting techniques that you can try as you embark on your painting journey.

Washing

This technique is mixing water with acrylic to achieve the consistency of water color. However, once you apply it on your canvas, it’s not as easy to blend as a real watercolor. Using this method can create different textures on your painting making it more appealing.

Dry brushing

This method is using dry brush in applying pure acrylic paint in a canvas. This results to strong block of colors and sharp textures on your painting.

Flicking

Just as what the name suggests, flicking is using a wet brush and flicking the paint onto the canvas to create small splatters. This technique is used in creating stars in a painting and adding texture.

Stippling

It is achieved by creating small dots across the canvas and layering colors as you go along the way creating texture and subtle blend in colors.

Detailing

This technique is used with small damp brush to add detail on the painting. It also can be used in adding shadows and whites in the eyes giving more life to the whole picture.

Dabbing

In dabbing, a sponge is used to create soft texture that can show movement of your painting subject. Both sponge and a paper towel can be used to create this effect and lastly;

Palette Knife

You can create a beautiful blend or block of colors using your palette knife. Simply put a dab of paint on your palette knife and use it directly to your canvas. It might be hard if you think about it this technique is actually simple and can create beautiful texture as well. Just imagine as if you’re spreading an icing to a cake and you’ll get the hang of it.

There are other techniques and methods that can use in creating your masterpiece. While these techniques are pretty basic, you can still experiment on a more advanced method to achieve the texture, color and consistency that you want to achieve. Most importantly, have fun and let your creativity take control of your hands!